Chapter 33: The Sage

Sagbar Pascal tossed Panni into a room filled with golem parts, then disappeared for reasons unknown.

Panni wandered around the room and realized that the artificer's claim about the construct beast being defective was indeed true. Every piece of machinery here was impeccably crafted to a baffling degree of perfection. Being in this place felt like stepping into a futuristic technology factory straight out of a movie.

In comparison, the construct beast abandoned outside the tower appeared crudely made, like a shoddy assembly of random parts.

Given some time to study, Panni could undoubtedly assemble these parts into more efficient combat machines.

However, Panni had no inclination to engage in such pursuits at the moment. Having stumbled into the lair of ancient artificers, and worse, been caught red-handed by the master, he felt like a low-level character in a video game facing a towering boss with three question marks hovering above its head. A sense of impending doom engulfed him, as if his fate lay beyond his control.

He no longer cared much about his three companions. In the capricious hands of this artificer, the duration of their lives was uncertain.

Moreover, he despaired at the apparent lack of escape routes. When he used his perception to scan the corridor outside, he found no traps or magical mechanisms—a glaring logical inconsistency.

The only conclusion was that the devices within this artificer's lair were deeply concealed, beyond the reach of his perception.

This was not surprising, considering the power of this artificer, which Panni could only imagine.

After hesitating for a moment, he found a warm spot in a corner and lay down. He hadn't slept soundly in a long time before arriving here.

Despite the dire circumstances, he couldn't think of a better course of action. Taking a nap would at least replenish his depleted spell slots. Some spells, even of lower caliber compared to those of the artificer, could still provide him with a bit more power, increasing the likelihood of performing miracles.

Ruminating aimlessly will only exacerbate his growing anxiety.

He closed his eyes, on the verge of drifting off to sleep, when suddenly a sigh reached his auditory nerves—Panni noticed that the sound didn't pass through his ears but directly affected his nerves. It was akin to a form of telepathy, a magical effect. This discovery immediately put him on alert.

Vigilantly, he scanned his surroundings, seeking the source of the sound. Yet, he quickly realized there was nothing suspicious nearby. He began to think he might have hallucinated due to rapid emotional changes.

However, at that precise moment, another astonished "Hmm?" reverberated in Panni's mind, jolting him awake once more.

This time he was certain; these two sounds were not figments of his imagination. Someone nearby was speaking inaudibly to ordinary ears. Simultaneously, he felt the sensation of being watched.

"Can you hear my voice?" Before Panni could decide on a course of action, the voice preemptively spoke. It was a mysterious middle-aged male voice, deep and murmuring like a whisper in the forest. Without waiting for Panni's response, the voice continued, almost to itself, "Ah, yes, you possess quite a remarkable soul. There's no need for you to strain yourself searching. I'm speaking to you from the Ethereal Plane, beyond the reach of your soul's perception."

Panni was momentarily stunned. The trump card that had helped him overcome countless challenges since his reincarnation had been casually unveiled. What astonished him even more was that the speaker seemed to understand this ability better than Panni himself did, leaving him with deep-seated doubts.

In such circumstances, with such an enigmatic figure suddenly appearing, was it a blessing or a curse?

"May I ask... who are you?" Panni furrowed his brow, speaking softly.

"Remain silent, for I can only vaguely infer your movements by the signals of consciousness when you speak," the voice said. "Concentrate deeply on the words you wish to convey to me, as if in meditation, and repeat them in your mind!"

Panni understood and felt somewhat reassured. It seemed that the other party could not truly read his thoughts but could only sense his neural signals. Perhaps they could detect anomalies in his soul, but not enough to discern the fact of his origin from another world.

Following the instructions, he fervently repeated the words he wished to say, with the intensity akin to when he linked to the magical network. It felt as if his mental signals were dissipating outward. Indeed, he heard the voice respond to his inquiry: "I am Oclorus, the Elder of the Madiel Forest."

"You are Oclorus!" Panni exclaimed with a hint of surprise. Regardless of whether the other party was deceiving him, this statement alone provided him with a comforting answer.

"I understand your doubts and am aware of your mission because I have already made contact with your three companions. I will dispel your suspicions shortly..."

While Panni was listening, the voice, likely belonging to the Elder Oclorus, suddenly interjected, "Wait, the Artificer is coming."

Panni quickly assumed a more composed yet slightly nervous posture.

The automaton entered, holding a vial of potion, and approached Panni. "Behold, dear assistant, in preparation for your future tasks, I have prepared a spell for you. It will make you more competent."

He could see a small gemstone submerged beneath the potion. Clearly, this gemstone, radiating magical energy, was the vessel storing the spell. He had already surmised it to be some form of ancient gemstone magic. It appeared that the potion served merely as a stabilizing agent. As for the spell contained within the gem, he had some speculations.

Panni gradually shuddered, realizing that in this world, there would be no bosses devoid of intelligence. It was quite normal for them to control their slaves with spells and potions. As a transmigrant, he was clearly not fond of this puppet-like existence. While he hesitated, he heard Oclorus urging him, "Fear not, imbibe!"

This statement seemed to embolden Panni, although in reality, he had no choice but to comply. He resignedly gulped down the potion, instantly inundated with a plethora of information flooding into his mind. His vision darkened as his brain neurons were fully engaged in processing the incoming data, leaving no capacity to control his body.

Countless pieces of information streamed through Panni's consciousness. Unlike what he had imagined, it was not a spell to dominate humans but a ninth-order memory manipulation. This spell could alter the memories of the recipient. However, if stored in a gemstone, it lost this effect, replaced by a slightly weakened function of implanting virtual memories. It was said that during the Neisrael era, many great arcanists used this method to rapidly train apprentices.

Panni instantly grasped the Artificer's intent. In order to groom him into a competent assistant, the Artificer had poured a considerable amount of ancient imperial magic engineering experience into his mind. It encompassed a wide array of subjects, such as the alteration of magical creatures, construction studies, and mechanical engineering, among others. Many of these ancient techniques were intricate and sophisticated. If presented to the Red Robe Magisters, they would immediately cause a sensation.

After the downfall of the two great empires and the sealing of the deep-level maginet by Mystara, the level of arcane research in Phaerun had been on a steady decline. It was truly a case of the modern age being inferior to the ancients. Therefore, the arcane research data from ancient Neisrael and the Imasca Empire were extremely precious to contemporary mages.

Panni glanced through them hastily, quickly realizing that if he could fully absorb these memories, he would immediately become an expert in the field. He might even become an Artificer, which was not an idle boast.

However, under these circumstances, he found it difficult to feel elated. In Sagbar Pascal's eyes, these things were evidently just formalities to make him a qualified servant.

"May you digest this knowledge within three days; we have little time left for our experiments. This is the final opportunity," muttered the Artificer as he walked out of the room, lost in his own thoughts. "I also need to adjust the ratios of CM199918D189; the modulation of sample E23849XFD9333 is incomplete, and there's still the matter of experiment number 00111312..."

Panni watched the figure leave the room, and inexplicably breathed a sigh of relief. The pressure of being with this steel monstrosity was simply overwhelming.

"Alright, once he's engrossed in his research, he won't think of seeking you out during this time. Now you can safely come out," spoke Oclorus once again. "Follow my instructions: after leaving, take twelve paces to the left, then proceed six paces forward. This should allow you to evade the first magical alarm and the initial outpost. The password is..."

Following Oclorus's instructions hastily, Panni inquired, "Elder Oclorus, why are you so familiar with the layout of this tower?"

"My soul has been surveying this tower in the ethereal plane for a long time," Oclorus replied after a moment of silence.

"Your soul?" Panni exclaimed in astonishment. "You're communicating with me using your soul?"

"My physical form has been imprisoned; the Artificer's power is overwhelming," Oclorus responded. "If it weren't for my quick reaction, I wouldn't have the chance to converse with you now."

"How did you enter here then?" Panni asked curiously.

"It was also by chance that I detected this shadowy demi-plane," Oclorus sighed. "I never expected that an ancient Artificer would be concealed here. Now, our only option is to find a way to defeat this fellow in order to safely leave this place."

"Defeat him?" Panni's voice carried a tinge of bitterness. "That fellow can conjure a ninth-level spell with ease."

A soul hidden in the ethereal plane, along with a low-level mage with only second-tier spellcasting abilities, attempting to kill such an Artificer was akin to forcing a level one novice to slay a top-tier grand boss.

"But you have no other choice. Whether it's you, me, or your three companions, only when he perishes can we be restored," Oclorus spoke softly. "Do you wish to be a mere assistant, always on edge, knowing you could perish at his hands at any moment?"

"Of course not," Panni shook his head. "Also, you mentioned my three companions earlier. Have you seen them?"

"We're almost there; continue to heed my guidance..."

Following the Elder's instructions, Panni ascended a staircase, traversed two corridors, and halted before a small door. Pausing for a moment, he gently pushed it open. Inside lay three transparent vessels, shimmering with radiance. As Panni entered, the lights shimmered and shifted, and several voices entered his mind.

"Mr. Sean, you're alive? That vile creature didn't kill you?"

"You rascal! Release me at once!"

"Lord Oclorus, you've returned? And this outsider?"